Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
Isn't free a good reason?
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No.
When I got this notebook two and a half years ago I got "free" license for Windows 8 with it.
Well ... it wasn't free, I had to pay for it anyway as a [hidden] part of the price, even when I wasn't planning to use it. But the notebook was heavily discounted so I bought it, even if it meant I was sending a little bit of money to Microsoft - for something I did not want.
The fact that the OS wasn't free should have been even bigger incentive to try to make use of it. I tried. I needed to make myself familiar with the system so I wouldn't be fumbling around when doing maintenance for customers, family and friends, so I tried to use and tweak it for a few weeks. It was *so* annoying ... . Later I tried to install my new [legal!] windows into virtual machine - the notebook is powerful enough. This proved to be way too complicated. Nowadays you do not receive OS installation media and serial number for later use. Nowadays you receive just a "system restore" image of installed system (typically on a hidden partition, and if you are really lucky they let you create backup DVDs of it). The restore image includes all the crapware and begware from notebook manufacturer (such as Norton anti-CPU) for your convenience and the license is burnt into your BIOS.
I *will* try out the new Windows 10. I will need to know how to maintain it and solve problems for many people I support.
I think it is unlikely I will use it as my main, everyday system *at home*.
Free (as a beer ;-) ) is not enough. I would still need to activate and register that thing (in fact begging for permission to use my own computer) and I would have to purchase an antivirus for it.
We shall see how well the new Windows 10 can live alongside other systems on a single disk. When I purchased this notebook it had FOUR disk partitions occupied, and none of those was a separate data partition D:. Everything was installed to C:. Splitting the C: partition would have been highly non-trivial.
I have no problem using system with unconventional / different user interface. I have used FreeBSD for quite a few years and under Linux, that I use at the moment, I have used numerous window managers / desktop environments. Do not think that Metro under Windows 8 is unique in getting lots of justified critique - there have been KDE 4.0 and Gnome 3 screw-ups in the past.